[davemonkey]

I was driving through Chambers County today and stopped by a road ditch to see what was in it. I was pleasantly surprised with a few different plants. I was able to ID some Bacopa monneiri, seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) and some different hairgrasses. But I don't know three of them.

This first one looks like a ludwigia, but is very small. I know that L.peploides is common around here, maybe these are babies? Leaves are opposite. It was growing in a thick clump just below the water surface.

This next one looks VERY similar, but it a bit larger-leaved, and leaves are alternate. It was growing in small clusters or 2-3 stems, sometimes only 1.

Here is a comparison of the two. Notice the size difference.

Can anyone make a good guess or positive ID?
-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

Here is the third plant I could not ID. It's a rosette-like plant. I have absolutely NO clue what it is.

Here's a pic of the ditch, followed by a mat of Bacopa monneiri.

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

The first one might be Ludwigia repens and the larger red plant might be Ludwigia glandulosa. Very nice finds!

Thanks!

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

Thanks, all, for the answers. I don't think I have to light output for L.glandulosa, but I'll see what it does. The others I'll plant and see what they do. I'll update if anything neat happens (like #3 stretching out to a stemmie) .

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

Wow those are great Dave!When can we go collecting?

Whenever you want! I'm just now learning the roads over there, but the entire county is FULL of wetlands and ditches that never dry. Anytime you guys want to tour the area "for conservation assistance" just let me know.

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

ADG use to have a guy that like to dive into ditches all the time. They give him the nickname - ditch diver. hmmmmm :spy:

:lalala: At work they call my brother "Mud-duck" (he's the Wetlands Specialist and is always out in the muck) .

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

On a hunch, I ventured out to the ditch just outside my office. I mean, this is literally 50 feet from the front door of my office. I look down and what do I see? More ludwigia and a few other questionable plants (not sure if they are aquatic or not).

The first Ludwigia (that has been ID'd so far as L. palustris) was present in mass quantities and I even found a couple emerged shoots. Take a look, these are the same plant emersed and submersed. I believe this confirms L.palustris? (Even without a flower? )

And I found a grass that was growing submerged. A mower/weedeater has hit a few times I think. My first thought on this was submerged growth of Seashore Paspalum (P. vaginatum) , but I admit I am very much uncertain. There is an abundance of seashore growing in the area, however. Here are pics:

I never knew I'd have so much fun moving to Coastal Texas! This is so much FUN!!

-Dave

By the way, is there a way to change the thread title to something more along the lines of "SouthEastern Texas Wetlands" or something like that? If so, I can just keep posting more plants from the area on this thread?

 

[davemonkey]

Re: Local Plants for ID

Dave,

I'm not sure what that first one is, but it's definitely not a Ludwigia (at least the emersed stem). Are you positive that's what the one on the right is? I don't think that's the same thing as in your first photo.

The second one looks like it's probably a grass (might be something from Cyperaceae). Don't let that stop you from trying it.

Well, they were growing together, but they weren't attached to the same plant. I just assumed....and we all know what happens when we ass-u-me. So, it may well be two different plants. Especially considering there were only a couple of these emersed stems poping up amongst a HUGE submerged mat of the ludwigia. With my luck, it could be button-bush seedlings (there's alot of that here) . I'll do some better 'sloshing' Monday and see what I find.

As for the grass, it's in my tank right now. I've got it up front where I can keep a close eye on it in case it starts dying/rotting away.

I have to say this again, this really is fun. I'm learning new plants, feeding my hobby, and working at the same time (well...the working part may be a bit of a stretch...it takes a little smooth talking to say swathing through a ditch is conservation-related) .

-Dave

Oh, and look at that new title! Some cool monkey must have come up with that! Thanks for changing it for me.

 

[davemonkey]

Bunbuku,

No, fresh water only, and I'm 90% sure the areas I looked in were not flooded with sea-water during Hurricane Ike. The couple plants that have yet to be ID'd (#3 and the grass) I've got in my tank growing out. They may turn out to be non-aquatics that can survive submerged for long periods (like botton-bush or some sedges, or some random plant I've not seen before) .

If you want to try some of these out in a tank let me know and I'll bring samples to the Jan NASH mtg. I'll be updating with results from what is in my tank and I'm sure I'll be looking for more plants to try out.

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Okay, I confirmed that the emersed stem I found is not akin to the submersed ludwigia it was growing with. I found another of the emersed stem with submersed growth that was identical to the emersed. I suppose if I waited until the plants started maturing and flowering it would be MUCH easier to tell what is what.

Anyway, I went out to another road today and found TONS of what I am thinking is Ludwigia glandulosa. Also found some Sagittaria sp (I think graminea, but too young to tell) and another plant I think may be a Rumex sp, but again, can't really tell.

I'm going to slow down on plant hunting until some mature growth/flowers start showing up so it won't be such a guessing game. In the meantime, here are the latest finds:

Possibly a Rumex, young plant, not truely aquatic

Sagittaria sp

Ludwigia glandulosa (I think)

Tune in this Spring/Summer for more (and with positive ID's) !
-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

free plants in your own backyards?! I can't believe it, I wonder if we have anything like that in Southern California, it has always been a fantasy of mine to go to aquatic plant collecting.

It really is great fun! Just this Thursday I found some Proserpinaca pectinata (Comb-leaf Mermaid weed) and some more L. glandulosa while at work. No pictures because the camera died and I couldn't get "natural" photos. But I'll go back there and get some good shots in a few weeks.

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

It must be nice living near all that water, out here in the desert the only place you'll find aquatic plants is a lake or the fish store lol!! Even the canals out here are concrete

I know how you feel (well, almost). When we lived up by Abilene there were NO aquatic plants at all. I remember getting excited when I found some Potamogeton nodosus in a pond once. It didn't make much of an aquarium plant because all the leaves quickly went to the surface and floated, but it was all I could find locally. Now, here in the high rain-fall/warm climate, I can find TONS of cool stuff.

 

[davemonkey]

Got any pics? Not being familiar with this particular species, I googled it, and the pics are very similar to some of my locally collected P. palustris. My palustris has leaves which can be quite variable, in some cases looking very similar to the pic I saw of the pectinata. I wonder if the pectinata is also variable?

Cavan, you out there??

I'm going back out there on Friday. If it's dry enough to get to the spot I'll get some natural photos. Either way, I'll post some pics of what I threw in my tank to show a side-by-side comparison.

I'm sure it can have variable growth here, I just noticed the little "nutlets" on the aquaplant website (or was it Aquatic and Invasive Plants...whichever one is the Florida site) and saw a few old ones on some stems I tossed. Just in case, I'm growing a couple stems emersed. (EDIT Note: I actually never bothered to look and see is P.palustris also has nutlets...DANG...that throws a wrench in my ID.)

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

I went out to the ditch where I found the P. palustris and got some nice shots. Tomorrow I'll try the spot with what I think is P. pectinata.

Notice the two distinct leaf shapes on this partially submerged stem

 

[davemonkey]

Some other shots I took (more Proserpinaca, some P. hydropiperoides?, and something I'm not familiar with) .

This is the most abundant plant in the particular ditch I was in today

 

[davemonkey]

Compare these plants to the Proserpinaca palustris above. I think these are P. pectinata, but I can no longer confirm it as I didn't save any seeds/nuts and there were none left when I got out there yesterday. The specs of this particular site: frequently flooded soils, there was a 2-month dry spell where most of the plants were left above water and began forming emergent growth. The pictures were all taken 2 days after a 5" rain. I'll post pics of other plants in a new post.

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Some more pics :

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

Goodness, isn't that red plant a carnivorous species ?
I've never seen them in the wild, this is so amazing ! Just think how beautiful they'd look in a terrarium...

The red plant is indeed a carnivorous. I believe it's 'Pink Sundew', Drosera capillaris , but whichever species, it's a Drosera. It's found throughout the Gulf Coast States, but only on certain sites. They would definitely add some color to a terrarium, but they are very tiny plants. The largest I saw out there were quarter-size.

Bert, for what it's worth, one of the NASH guys looked at my Mermaid weeds and said he believes them to be palustris and not pectinata.

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

I finally found an ID on these flowers. Viola lanceolata.
And even that may be incorrect on the species, but it's close at the very least.

PlantsDatabase Link followed by pictures from the site I visited:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VILA4&photoID=vila4_004_avp.jpg

-Dave

 

[davemonkey]

On my way to the Plant Materials Center in Nacogdoches, I stopped at canal where I've seen Proserpinaca palustris growing. I was able to get a shot of flowers and fruits (first pic). I also took some photos of other plants there.

In Nacogdoches, my brother and I found an isolated depression in the forest at the PMC. We didn't find what we had hoped for (Juncus repens), but we did see some great plants and mosses. I'll post those pictures in a second post so I don't take too much room in this first one.

Enjoy.